American political update

Lots to keep American politics students busy on a snow day... Another selection of interesting articles from the Economist - on the virtues and talents of Sarah Palin, on a Pentagon report leaving the way clear for gays to serve openly in the military, and on the Wikileaks fiasco. On the latter issue, Mike Huckabee (a 2008 Republican presidential hopeful) sees execution as the only option for dealing with those who leaked the information to Wikileaks and many other politicians are lining up to condemn those involved. Washington Post is concentrating on Congress and Obama's attempt to cut a deal with the Republicans over the Bush-era tax cut and whether to renew it as a whole or only for the middle class. Great topics for discussion and examples for your political analysis - and possible questions for Wednesday's current affairs test.

Obama and the mid-terms

The mid-term elections are less than a week away now and the predictions are still dire for the Democrats. Next week, it is likely that the Republicans will have won control of the House and substantially reduced the Democrat majority in the Senate. There is so much to read and look at on the Internet on the elections, here are just a few suggestions: Obama has appeared on Jon Stewart's Daily Show (on Channel 4 OD) which is interesting for his defence to his own rather disappointed supporters and for his constitutional reform suggestions; The Economist has an article setting out why Obama has disappointed but that the criticism has been overblown and another on the electoral position at the moment; the BBC has a special website with a range of articles and features such as the races to watch, the issues of the election and the craziest campaign moments.
What would you suggest? Have you found any good websites?

Worshipping the constitution

In this week's Economist there is a fascinating article about the USA's obsession with their constitution. The tea-party movement is the latest group to hijack their own understanding of what the constitution means for their own ends. Lexington provokes a passionate debate on the Economist's blog by statements such as 'there is something infantile in the belief of the constitution-worshippers that the complex political arguments of today can be settled by simple fidelity to a document written in the 18th century'.
This is proof, if needed, of history's ever-present relevance to today's political debate.

The Economist this week

A definite must-read this week as there are a number of excellent articles which will help with the exams. First of all, there is analysis of the new coalition government with comparisons of the new leaders in the British section. Also, there is a good comparison of the parties' promises on political reform as well as thoughts on the Labour Party's leadership contest. On the USA, there are articles on Elena Kagan, the climate-change bill and Utah's primary which has resulted in another moderate Republican being dropped by the party.